Page 2490 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 6 August 2013
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with inside information, for example, that is not publicly available, the maximum penalty is two years.
The new laws would apply in the ACT and elsewhere, and they apply to sporting activities as well as events. Examples that we continue to see are the first try scorer or the winning margin. The reach of these new provisions is comprehensive. For example, in the first new offence, a person commits an offence if they do something personally or if they pay someone or pressure someone else into doing something, or if someone enters into an agreement to do something.
In countering those behaviours, the bill does not intend to capture genuine game tactics or conduct like a referee making an honest mistake as to the application of rules. Let us hope it does not include the DRS. That would be problematic. It is also worth noting that for an offence to be proven, intent or in some cases recklessness must be proved, but it is not necessary to prove that the bet was actually placed.
My only concern with this bill is in relation to the clause giving a meaning as opposed to a definition of the phrase “corrupts a betting outcome”. The task of drafters giving a meaning to the phrase was clearly a difficult one. However, the result is somewhat clumsy and unclear, depending substantially on the rather subjective phrase “contrary to the standards of integrity”. I can see the potential for considerable legal argument on this meaning were it to come to court.
Gambling on sport has become a reality. For many in our community, it is a way of life. For others, it is an abhorrence, as we have seen recently in relation to the issue of promoting gambling during games shown in prime time television viewing. Much has also been said over the years about cheating at gambling on sporting events. Indeed, there have been many reported incidences of sporting bodies placing serious penalties, including bans on players and officials who have engaged in the kinds of behaviours this bill addresses. These behaviours have brought shame not only on the perpetrators but on the sport itself. It is a positive move to legislate in an attempt to stamp out activities that serve to impact negatively on the integrity and credibility of sport for the illegitimate gains of a few.
The Canberra Liberals are pleased to support an approach that has national backing and which seeks to bring sport back to where it belongs—in the hands of families and our community at large.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Community Services) (11.25): The release of the findings of the Australian Crime Commission report Organised crime and drugs in sport have certainly focused considerable attention on integrity in sport issues this year.
Sport is indeed a central part of our culture and our community, and the integrity of sport is something we value and something that we expect. However, the release of the commission’s report did not mark the unveiling of “integrity” concerns in sport, nor did it mark the start of a response to integrity issues by governments, enforcement agencies or indeed sporting bodies themselves.
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